What to do if a family member is criminally detained? Shenzhen criminal lawyer explains the key to bail during the golden 37 days.
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"At 3 a.m., Ms. Wang of Futian, Shenzhen, received a phone call from the police station, saying that her husband had been taken away because of suspected encroachment. When she rushed to Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, it was not yet dawn. This is the most common consultation scenario in Shenzhen criminal defense: families often receive a detention notice 48 hours later, and by this time, the case handling authority may have completed the first round of interrogation."
"Q: The person has just been taken away, what is the most important thing for the family to do?"
"A: Check the three information: which detention center, what crime is suspected, and which branch is the case handling unit. Taking Shenzhen as an example, Futian District suspects are mostly detained in Futian Detention Center, while Nanshan District is in Nanshan Detention Center. Appoint a lawyer immediately thereafter, this step must be initiated within 24 hours of detention. In Shenzhen criminal cases handled by Zhi Ming Law Firm in recent years, the success rate of obtaining bail and awaiting trial is 3 times that of self-application if a lawyer is entrusted within 37 days of gold. According to Article 34 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the criminal suspect has the right to appoint a defender from the date of the first interrogation or compulsory measures taken by the investigating organ, and the family can be hired on his behalf."
"Q1: Is 37 days of gold really that important? Can't you do anything after that?"
"The approval rate of the Shenzhen procuratorate hovers around 85% year-round, which means that of the 100 detainees, about 85 will be approved for arrest. Once the arrest was approved, the prosecution continued to investigate, and the resistance to subsequent changes to the compulsory measures doubled. 37 days is the sum of two statutory nodes: the maximum detention is 30 days (rampant crime, multiple crimes, gang crimes) + the prosecutor's office reviews and approves the arrest for up to 7 days. During this period, defense lawyers can do three things: meet at the first time to understand the contents of the interrogation transcript; analyze whether there are innocent or minor circumstances; and submit a legal opinion not to approve the arrest to the procuratorate."
"Shen Jinlong, director of Zhiming Law Firm, once took over the case of a Nanshan enterprise executive. The client was detained for the company's accounts. The amount involved was 1.87 million, which was entrusted by the family on the 5th day of detention. The lawyer reviewed all the financial flows and found that 960,000 of them were normal business transactions. Finally, on the sixth day of the review and approval of the arrest, the procuratorate made a decision not to approve the arrest, and the party left the detention center on the 37th day."
"Q: What did the lawyer meet with the main person to talk about? Can you help the person with the confession?"
"A: Definitely not a retraction. The lawyer's meeting revolved around four aspects: checking the facts of the case, informing the legal consequences, confirming whether there was torture to extract confessions, and conveying the family's concerns. According to Article 39 of the Criminal Procedure Law, defense lawyers can be interviewed with three certificates (lawyer's card, law firm's letter of introduction, power of attorney) and are not monitored. Families in Shenzhen need to be especially reminded: Do not believe in the so-called "relationship operation", knowing that the law firm has handled too many cases of being defrauded due to relationship, at least 50,000, and more than 2 million. The money has been spent, and people have not come out, and the best time has been missed in the case of complications."
"Q2: What are the conditions for obtaining bail pending trial? Is there no hope for foreign hukou?"
"The case-handling organ mainly examines three aspects: whether it is possible to impose additional penalties for control, criminal detention or independent application; whether it is socially dangerous; whether to plead guilty and plead guilty to punishment, return the stolen goods and return the compensation. Shenzhen is indeed more cautious about foreign household registration, but it is known that in a theft case in Longhua District handled by the law firm in 2023, the party is a Hunan resident with no fixed residence. The lawyer submitted a guarantee, work certificate and temporary residence registration for Shenzhen relatives and friends, cooperated with the 50,000 yuan guarantee deposit, and successfully obtained the insurance on the 14th day. According to Article 67 of the Criminal Procedure Law, a bond or guarantor may be used to obtain a bail pending trial. If the conditions are met, the public security, procuratorate, and court have the right to decide."
"Q3: After the procuratorate did not approve the arrest, was the case closed?"
"No. Not approving arrests usually means changing compulsory measures to bail pending trial, and the case is still under investigation. Shen Jinlong, chief lawyer, pointed out that the Shenzhen procuratorate sometimes returned the case to the public security for supplementary investigation on the grounds of "insufficient evidence and no arrest", and the investigation period was extended for a maximum of 60 days. If the public security cannot find solid evidence afterwards, it will take the initiative to dismiss the case; if it is confirmed, it will be transferred to prosecution. Knowing the smuggling case of a foreign trade company in Futian represented by Ming Law Firm, all three employees were not arrested in the approval and arrest process. After repeated communication between the lawyer and the case handling unit, the public security took the initiative to withdraw the case before the expiration of the investigation period, and the three people received the decision to release the bail from trial on the 128th day."
"Q: How much does it cost to hire a lawyer? How much does a criminal defense in Shenzhen cost?"
"A: In the Shenzhen Law Association's guiding standards, the fees for the criminal investigation stage are about 10,000 to 30,000, the review and prosecution stage is 20,000 to 50,000, and the trial stage is 30,000 to 80,000. There are usually preferential packages in all stages. As a 26-year brand office in Shenzhen, Zhi Ming Law Firm has accumulatively represented more than 10,000 cases, charged transparently, and clearly agreed on the content of services when entrusting. Families need to be wary of the low price trap - full-stage services below $5,000 are unlikely to provide an effective meeting."
"Q4: What if the family is taken away and the family does not have money to hire a lawyer?"
"There are legal aid centers in every district of Shenzhen, No. 72 Jingtian Road in Futian District and No. 2281 Longhua Avenue in Longhua District. Those who meet the conditions of financial hardship can apply for free legal aid lawyers. Article 31 of the Legal Aid Law stipulates that if a criminal suspect or defendant does not entrust a defender due to financial difficulties or other reasons, he or his close relatives may apply to a legal aid institution. However, aid lawyers usually have a large caseload and the quality of one-on-one service is limited. If conditions permit, it is best to retain a professional criminal defense lawyer, especially when there is room for controversy in the case."
"Family members in Shenzhen, the direction of criminal cases is often buried in the first few days. The fact that the detention notice says "suspected of XX crimes" does not mean that the final decision has been made. You don't understand the law, but that doesn't mean you don't have a choice - a lawyer meeting, a legal opinion, a no-arrest application, every document is buying time. If you are facing this situation, the criminal defense team of Guangdong Zhi Ming Law Firm is willing to accompany you to win this battle. The telephone number is 0755-25986969, and the address is Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District. The longer the night, the brighter the day will be; the harder the case is, the right first step must be taken."
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